Building Regulations Scotland, 2013 Amendments

Posted

The
2013 Edition of the Technical Handbooks are now available online: hard
copies of these documents will no longer be available. The revised handbooks support
the Building (Miscellaneous Amendments) (Scotland) Regulations 2013 which are
scheduled to come into force on 1 October 2013. 
The
amendments are limited in extent with the principle revisions being as follows:

  • Section
    0 (General) has been revised primarily to accommodate
    the Construction Products Regulation 2011 (CPR), which becomes effective for
    manufacturers, importers and distributors on 1 July 2013. Described as the most
    significant change for a decade in the way in which construction products are manufactured
    and sold in the European Union, under the CPR it will be mandatory that many construction
    products provide a declaration of performance and carry the CE mark to demonstrate
    this.
  • Section 2 (Fire) sets out that the obligation to install an automatic
    fire suppression system does not apply to new buildings forming part of, or an
    extension to, an existing school if it is not reasonably practicable to do
    so.  (This backtracks on 2010
    requirements which have proved unnecessarily
    costly in certain situations).
  • Section 3 (Environment) introduces a new standard requiring water
    efficiency measures for water closets and wash basins within dwellings.  The requirement for waste storage
    accommodation for new houses has been removed; this now applies only to new
    flats and maisonettes.  Requirements for
    the installation of carbon monoxide detection have also been introduced.
  • Section 7 (Sustainability) introduces a requirement for school buildings
    containing classrooms to meet specified levels of sustainability.
Amendments are also to be made to the completion certificate forms for
the process of submitting a fire safety design summary at completion of a
non-domestic building. This summary will provide information in connection with
the building, which will assist in the operation and maintenance of the
building for fire safety purposes.